PART FOUR - NEW MOON ENGINE

Jim's photos are proof positive that Australia was making a small air-cooled engine suitable
for lawnmowers in the early 1920s. Prosper Frederick Lark, engineer, built his own engine,
using imported ignition and carburetion ancillaries. Start was by hand crank.

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The engine presents as a typical air-cooled loop-scavenge design of about 120cc or so. . The carburettor
is of the Villiers make and looks to be period original and correct with a single lever. I do not doubt
that the air intake is original in all its un-filtered simplicity. The air must have been cleaner back then ...

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When one looks at the original photo of the engine in Part One, it is clear that the
most obvious change was in the ignition arrangement. The original design had an external
magneto mounted below the crankcase!

This engine has cast into the crankcase 'The New Moon No.,' and 'Sydney Model M6'.
It now has a Villiers Flywheel Magneto which, at that time, would have been quite a new feature.
The dust cover is missing but the holding clips are still in situ. The muffler appears to be a
fabricated replacement.

Of particular note is the spring arrangement on the PTO side. Its function is described in the
advertisement in Part Two as a 'Safety Clutch' to prevent damage should stones, etc., be picked
up when cutting the grass. I guess it must have failed ...

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TO BE CONTINUED ...